Fernandez's Shoulder Seems To Be Fine

MARLINS NOTEBOOK

VERO BEACH — The Marlins were able to breathe a sigh of relief Tuesday morning when Alex Fernandez said his surgically repaired right shoulder felt much better than it had after pitching Monday.

"Oh yeah, I'm pleased," said head trainer Larry Starr, although he and manager John Boles said they weren't as concerned as others when Fernandez reported stiffness in the shoulder following his third spring start.

Fernandez is coming back from rotator-cuff surgery and had not pitched for 16 months before spring training. He has allowed seven runs (six earned), 13 hits and one walk with six strikeouts in 52/3 innings, but his velocity and pitch command have been impressive and there haven't been any setbacks.

"Each start has been better than the one before, and I don't think [his progress] could be any better," Starr said. "If anyone thinks that one of these starts he's going to suddenly be totally unsymptomatic, that's not going to happen. But it's getting better each day."

Fernandez left Monday's start against Cleveland after allowing six runs and seven hits in 12/3 innings, a line that looked far worse than it would have if not for fielding problems by shortstop Alex Gonzalez and an infield hit.

The final blow was a towering two-run, two-out homer by Jim Thome, which Indians manager Mike Hargrove called the longest he ever saw at Winter Haven. Fernandez left the game and returned immediately to Viera to continue his rehabilitation, which included a Monday night swimming session and massage.

Tuesday morning, he reported to spring training headquarters and told Starr that the stiffness had subsided. Fernandez went through his regular workout.

Boles believed the problems Monday might have resulted from cool conditions (mid-50s) in Winter Haven and said he would monitor Fernandez's schedule in the early season at potential cold-weather games in New York and Philadelphia.

"Sigh of relief? No," Boles said of his reaction to Tuesday's news. "Because I thought he was OK. I talked to him when he came out of the game."

Floyd still out

Left fielder Cliff Floyd missed another game with soreness in his right buttocks, but a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam revealed no tears in the muscles or the sciatic nerve. Floyd hasn't played in a game since Saturday.

"We were hoping he would be back today; they don't know what it is," Boles said of the injury. "He had some tightness after [working out Monday], that's why he didn't come [to Vero Beach]. All I can tell you is, it's day to day."

Sheffield softens stance

The Dodgers are starting to look like an $85 million mansion with a couple of ominous cracks in the foundation. Catcher Todd Hundley hasn't caught a game all spring because of his troublesome right elbow and Gary Sheffield has a sore shoulder and a laundry list of complaints that are becoming a distraction.

Sheffield says he isn't comfortable playing left field and can't swing a bat without pain in his follow-through. He had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder during the offseason and is frustrated by the lack of progress, as well as by manager Davey Johnson's rules prohibiting facial hair and earrings.

He made headlines last week when he told a reporter than he has considered retiring and that he would have already done so if it weren't for the $51 million and five years left on his contract and the trade from the Marlins to the Dodgers that he agreed to in May. To waive his no-trade clause, the teams gave him a $5 million bonus and the Marlins also agreed not to make him pay back a $2.5 million interest-free loan.

All told, Sheffield made a baseball-record $17.5 million last season.

Sheffield was given three days off to go to Arizona for a custody matter regarding his son, Gary Jr. He returned a day sooner than expected and spoke to reporters for the first time since his "retirement" statements appeared.

"I always feel like that when I get injured," said the oft-injured former right fielder. "Is it worth it to go through all you have to go through to get out on the baseball field? Everybody says, `That's a lot of money.' But everything in life is not about dollars and cents."

While incredulous reporters scribbled his quotes, several Dodger players sat nearby eating lunch, staring at the scene surrounding Sheffield's locker. One veteran pitcher rolled his eyes as he surveyed the chaos.

"Hopefully, I'll get my chance [to work in left field] and improve," said Sheffield, who didn't play Tuesday against the Marlins. "There's always the self-doubt going to a new position. I was an All-Star right fielder when I got here. I feel like I'm an All-Star and I want to be the best left fielder. I don't want to be a liability out there. Davey always tells me I'm too hard on myself. But I just know one way -- perfect. I want to be the best."

During his injury-slowed springs with the Marlins, Sheffield said he needed only 30 at-bats to prepare for the season. Tuesday, he revised that.

"I don't really need spring training, to be honest with you," he said.

A few hours later, Johnson announced that Sheffield will continue his rehabilitation but won't play any games until his shoulder is healed.